9911796707
TMI Blog2003 (7) TMI 107X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y. The appellants were clearing the goods after payment of duty on the contracted price of the sleepers in terms of the said purchase orders. 2. However, before taking delivery of the sleepers, railways were getting the same inspected by their own employees for which neither any amount was being charged by the appellant from them nor any amount was being paid to them. The said inspection was carried by the railway employees after the goods were fully manufactured by the appellant and duly entered in their RG-1 register. As per the appellants before completion of manufacture of the said sleepers, the testing, if any was being done by them and the cost of such inspection was included in the assessable value of the said sleepers. 3. The pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lves satisfied about the quality of the goods and the same is not an activity incidental or ancillary to the manufacture of the said sleepers. In fact the contract itself provides that before the despatch of the finished concrete PSC sleepers, the same would be inspected by them. This fact shows that it was fully finished sleepers which were inspected by the railways. He submits that the Commissioner has relied to same Para 21 of the purchase order, which in fact does not belong to them. The same has been picked up by the Commissioner from some other case or from the papers relating to some other matter and there is no such para in the contract entered into between them and the Ministry of Railways. For the said purpose he draws our attenti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) RLT 711 and 2001 (45) RLT 840 was and is totally misconceived. In the decision reported in 1999 (110) E.L.T. 874 (T) the manufacturer was recovering testing charges from the customers whereas no such charges were collected or recovered by the appellant from Ministry of Railways. Similarly, in 2001 (45) RLT 711 (T), the appellant was recovering in every case the inspection charges from the buyers. The decision reported in 2001 (45) RLT 840 (T) was not at all concerned with the issue as to whether the expenses incurred by the buyer for inspection/testing of the goods purchased by it are includible in the assessable value in the hands of manufacturer. On the other hand, the said decision related to totally different facts and circumstances a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder for invoking the longer period of limitation on the ground that collection of charges on account of testing/inspection during the relevant period was not brought to the notice of the department by the appellant is erroneous inasmuch as no charges were ever collected by the appellant from the Ministry of Railways and as such the question of disclosure of the same does not arise. Shri Bagaria strongly relies upon the Supreme Court's decision in the case of National Radio Electronics Ltd. - 2000 (115) E.L.T. 35 wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court was pleased to hold that if the contracts in question were available with the department, application of mind by the excise authorities would have revealed to them the entire factual position and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch as the same was being done by the paid employees of the railways. We do not find any justification for addition of the testing charges on notional basis in the assessable value of the final product. The appellants have strongly contended that sleepers were in fully manufactured condition and were duly entered in RG-1 register before the same were tested by the employees of the railways. As such it was the finished sleepers which were being inspected by the purchaser for his own satisfaction. As rightly contended by the ld. Adv., such inspection for which no expenses were either being incurred or were being paid to the appellant, cannot be held to be pre-manufacture inspection charges. There is no justification for addition of notional te ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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